Cord Cutters Beware - 6 Unfortunate truths you will have to accept!

Channel switching isn’t instantaneous

If you’ve been subscribing to cable for a while, you’ve become accustomed to instantaneous channel surfing: You go to the guide, press to view a channel, and the video changes. That’s not quite how it is with streaming. There’s still a guide (which will take some getting used to, depending on your service), but the jump is quite a bit slower. First, it takes a second or so to tune, then you’re probably going to get a fuzzy picture for another couple of seconds as the stream evens out. It’s not the end of the world, but in an era of instantaneous everything, it took some adjusting.

For the rest of the nuisances, click here for the rest of the article from www.techhive.com

DIY: Make your own Hand Sanitizer

This is not the kind of stuff we normally cover but given the circumstances, and some of the inaccurate news that’s been going around, we’re going to branch off into safety today and teach you how to make hand sanitizer at home.

What you need

While you can make hand sanitizer at home, the ingredients for it will have to be purchased. If you can, try to order them online but remember that online orders can take more time to fill. Keeping your own safety and the safety of others in mind, do what’s best to buy the following;

1. Isopropyl or rubbing alcohol (91% – 99 % alcohol volume). This 91% – 99% is important and you should read the label on the bottle to confirm that you’re buying the right kind. This will be available in most pharmacies and can be bought over the counter. This is a transparent, runny liquid almost like water in appearance but somewhat thicker.
2. Aloe Vera gel. This can be bought at any regular drug store and/or pharmacy. You can also check online, or at the supermarket. Remember that you need this in processed form and any Aloe Vera you have growing at home can’t be used in its place. This will be a transparent gel that will be thick and will have to be scooped out with a spoon.
3. An essential oil. This is a complete list of essential oils. Some are more readily available than others e.g., Lavender oil, or Tea Tree oil. If you’re unable to find an essential oil, lemon juice will do the job too.

Equipment

You need to use precise measuring tools to make hand sanitizer. Regular kitchen measuring tools will do the job.

You can make this in almost any type of container but it’s a good idea to use either steel or glass. Try to avoid ceramic. Use a steel spoon to mix everything.

Make sure you have something to transfer the sanitizer to once it’s ready. You cannot leave out it in the open or it will evaporate.

Make hand sanitizer

Warning: DO NOT MAKE THIS NEAR AN OPEN FLAME.

In order to make hand sanitizer at home, you need to mix your three ingredients in the right proportions.

Add 3/4 cups of Isopropyl to your bowl. Add 1/4 cup of Aloe Vera gel to it, and mix it well. Add 8-10 drops of the essential oil and mix again. The oil might tint the solution a different color but don’t worry. When it’s thoroughly mixed, convert it to a bottle for storage and use.

If you need to make a much larger batch, you should read the instructions that WHO has for creating hand sanitizer in large amounts.

General-purpose cleaning

Hand sanitizer should be used when soap and water aren’t available. Whenever you can, you should wash your hands, and make sure you wash them for 20 seconds.

Hand sanitizer is for you but you should also disinfect other surfaces that you will touch frequently e.g., door knobs/handles. Lifehacker recommends using bleach and has a write-up on how to create the right solution and use it.

DO NOT MIX

The method for creating hand sanitizer at home is the same but its main ingredient i.e., Isopropyl might also be hard to find too. As such, there are several methods going around for alternative cleaning solutions that aren’t safe. We don’t have a definitive list of them but the following ingredients should not be mixed no matter.

Bleach and Vinegar: Mixing the two will release Chlorine gas which is highly acidic. It will burn.

Hydrogen Peroxide and Vinegar: This will make peroxyacetic acid which will burn you.

Bleach and Ammonia: Mixing them will release Chloramine which will cause breathing problems, and it might also burn you.

Bleach and Rubbing Alcohol: This makes Chloroform which is an anesthetic and a sedative when inhaled or ingested. It might not burn you but why take the chance?

The above are all household items, one of them is actually used to make a sanitizer but make sure you follow the correct method. Bleach is not supposed to be used on people. Also, don’t try to make Clorox wipes at home.

Google Launches Coronavirus Website, Nothing Like Trump Promised

Google's website to guide Americans through the coronavirus outbreak has gone live.

It dishes out information and data updated regularly. Google reveals top searches related to the coronavirus, but it also put forth several items that focus on education and prevention. When visiting Google's website, you'll see a standard information card explaining COVID-19 and how it spreads. Google then directs users to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, as they're trusted experts on the matter.

Further, the website includes several clips highlighting important information and state-specific links to understand measures being put in place at the local level. There's also an entire section dedicated to tips on working remotely, coping with stressful days, working out, and cooking.

Google didn't plan on rolling out a full-fledged website so soon, but White House officials put the Mountain View-based company on the spot in a press conference. It doesn't resemble what President Donald Trump described: an online resource for all Americans to locate testing centers and get tested; it's actually sister company Verily that is offering access to a limited number of tests to residents in the San Francisco Bay Area. Instead, all Americans are able to visit Google's generic website that offers information surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.

In addition to the website, there's also an update for Google Search. Google announced it's offering enhanced search results through information cards. They'll include an overview with top stories as well as tabs for symptoms, prevention, treatments, and statistics. Between all of this, tracking the coronavirus and understanding its nature shouldn't be too difficult.

Limited to the United States right now, the website should arrive in other countries and languages within the next few days. Google is developing a system that gathers information and data for all parts of the world to serve the general public. From there, it's just a matter of people listening to health organizations in a global effort to reduce the disease's ability to spread to more people.

13 Meditation Apps to Help You Fight Anxiety and Stress

Breathe in. Breathe out.

The state of the world is, in short, chaos. Your mental state does not have to be the same. It sounds counterintuitive, but the very device that is delivering anxiety-inducing news could be the thing that brings you a bit of calm. Meditation apps are a welcome window into a world of gentle bells, chirping birds, and encouraging words. Beyond the peaceful imagery, the ceasing of the mind's worry with meditation can have tremendous health benefits, easing anxiety, depression, and pain and even improving immunity.

We're here to share with you a few of our favorite ways to get our om on.

Click here for a review of all the apps from our friends at pcmag.com

Help keep coronavirus off your phone: How to effectively clean and disinfect your device

Studies have found the novel coronavirus, which causes the respiratory disease known as COVID-19, may be able to survive on some surfaces for up to nine days -- and that may include your beloved phone. This is the device you handle constantly and often press to the side of your face, which means that any bacteria, virus or other germ that makes its way onto your phone or case could easily transfer to your skin.

Washing your hands the right way can help keep you and your loved ones from passing the virus, but what about cleaning your phone? The good news is that disinfecting your electronic device has officially become easier. Earlier this week, Apple said on its website that you can safely clean your iPhone with disinfectant wipes, like Clorox sheets. Samsung hasn't responded to a request for comment about its phones.

There are still cleaning agents and techniques to avoid, however. While you might initially see good results, these harsher methods can eventually damage the screen (or possibly the internal components) that you're working so hard to protect.

We're going to tell you what products to avoid and the best ways to disinfect your phone and clean off fingerprint smudges, sand and lint from the ports and tenacious makeup off the screen (hint: never with makeup remover). We also tell you how to care for phones rated for water-resistance.

And here are nine more practical tips you can use to help limit your exposure to coronavirus.

Click here for the rest of tips.

How to get Microsoft Office 365 for free

If you're staying home more often due to the coronavirus pandemic, you might be in need of some basic tools on your personal or work computer, like Microsoft Office 365. And if you don't want to shell out the cash, there are a few ways you can get Office 365 and its apps for free. 

Microsoft's subscription service suite of productivity software -- including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint -- typically costs $150 for a one-time installation, or between $70 and $100 every year for access across devices and family members.

Click here for the article from Cnet.com